University Leaders Urged to Improve Teacher Preparation in Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Sid W. Richardson Foundation Forum of 18 Texas leaders in education grappled for more than a year with the critical question: What needs to be done to identify, recruit, prepare, and support Texas teachers? As a result of their work, the Forum has published a report, which has been endorsed by the Council of Public University Presidents and Chancellors, calling for the leadership of Texas universities to improve the teacher preparation process to ensure the long-term adequacy of supply and effectiveness of teachers, for high schools in particular, in the state.

The report, Delivering a High-Quality Teacher Workforce for Texas: Reconsidering University-Based Teacher Preparation in Texas, Renewing Commitments, and Improving Practice in the Twenty-First Century, offers 10 core principles for renewal and redesign of the teacher development process:

1. Teacher education must be embraced and managed as an important university-wide responsibility.
2. University-wide teacher education can only be actualized through university-wide leadership structures that are sanctioned and empowered by the chief academic and executive officials of each institution.
3. Universities should have an integrated information management system to track the progress of students pursuing teaching careers both while in school and in the profession.
4. University leaders must insist on measurable teacher production goals, and they must manage their organizations to ensure long-term attainment of those goals.
5. Universities must get serious about recruiting outstanding candidates.
6. Universities are obligated to offer an educational and training experience that treats their  candidates as valuable intellectual and thought leaders for future classrooms.
7. Universities must cultivate teacher preparation faculties involved in recruitment, placement, induction, and professional development of students pursuing education careers, and these faculties should be appropriately rewarded for their efforts.
8. Universities must grow and nurture a regional cadre of public school partners, integrating them as full-fledged members of the university community and actively engaging them in the improvement dialogue and instructional delivery of the teacher education program.
9. It is essential to cultivate and strengthen partnerships with feeder community colleges in order to enhance the quality and productivity of university-based programs.
10. Universities must cultivate and support energetic and productive research communities on teacher quality and effectiveness.

An educational think tank established in 1990 by the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, the Forum provides a venue for leaders from schools, business, government, universities, and foundations to discuss education reform. To facilitate the panel's discussions, the Foundation engaged policy leaders of the Aspen Institute's Education and Society Program.

Valleau Wilkie, Jr., executive vice-president of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation and founder and co-chair of the Forum, said, "The state's system of public education remains arguably its most vital asset for advancing long-term economic prosperity and quality of life for its citizens. Since excellent teachers constitute the lifeblood of any quality educational system, ensuring a strong and consistent supply of highly effective teachers must become a serious educational priority for Texas if we are to avoid erosion in the quality and effectiveness of our public schools."

Co-Chair of the Forum, William E. Reaves, Ph.D., wrote the report backed by research provided by members of the Forum. He is executive director emeritus and director of special projects of the Center for Research, Evaluation and Advancement of Teacher Education (CREATE)  a consortium of 37 Texas universities associated with the state's four largest systems: The University of Houston System, The Texas A&M University System, The Texas State University System, and The University of Texas System.

Dr. Reaves said, "Although the current scale of the educational enterprise in Texas is extraordinary, already exceeding 320,000 schoolteachers and 4.5 million children, CREATE has seen compelling evidence in recent years to suggest that universities are falling short in their teacher development obligations, especially in the preparation of high school teachers."

SOURCE Sid W. Richardson Foundation